Unlucky Athlone Town denied victory

Athlone Town put something of a dent in UCD's First Division title challenge when taking a point from their maiden visit to the Belfield Bowl last Friday. Things could have been far better for Athlone had they held out for another 60 seconds or so, as a 92nd minute goal by Evan McMillan denied Brendan Place's side a first league win in over two months. A first league goal of the season from Stephen Place - his third strike in all competitions - looked like handing the visitors a rare away victory, but the Students made maximum use of four additional minutes of stoppage time to keep their hopes of promotion alive. Athlone - who included new signings Andrei Georgescu and Davie O'Connor in their starting line-up - had drawn their previous two matches against Shelbourne and Monaghan Utd, and would probably have gladly settled for a point at the beginning of proceedings. The Town's previous couple of meetings against UCD this season had not gone well, with Athlone suffering two defeats in the league and also the League Cup. And with UCD knowing that full points would put them top of the table for 24 hours at least, the Dublin side started in confident mood. Athlone settled quickly, though, and went on to shade the exchanges in the opening half. Robbie Benson, making a welcome return to the side after missing three matches, had an early chance but goalkeeper Billy Brennan came quickly from his goal to gather the ball. Athlone were on top in the early stages and after nine minutes a move started in defence by Niall O'Reilly, who was selected at right back ahead of Robbie Hamm, saw a right wing cross from Georgescu put behind for the first corner kick of the game. Davie O'Connor's delivery was missed by Brennan but eventually cleared to safety by the home defence. Two minutes later, Des Hope passed to Stephen Place and his strike on target was pushed away by Brennan for another corner to Athlone. The debutants on opposite flanks for the visitors were looking sharp and when Georgescu delivered another good cross into the penalty area, Austin Skelly's shot on the turn was saved by the 'keeper. The Students' first chance came after 18 minutes when shots from Greg Bolger were twice blocked by Luke Hardy, who was returning to the club where he spent the first half of the season. Shortly afterwards, a shot from David McMillan was parried by Alex O'Reilly but most of the chances in the first half fell Athlone's way with Benson firing over after a neat turn on the edge of the penalty area after 20 minutes. McMillan headed a right wing cross straight at O'Reilly from a Ciaran Kilduff cross in one of the few home attacks to trouble the Town rearguard. Georgescu was enjoying his first competitive start for Athlone and a lovely piece of skill which saw him get past three home defenders on the stand side created the opening for Place whose shot was blocked. The last chance of the half for the Students saw a Gareth Matthews shot pushed behind by O'Reilly but Athlone ended the half as they had started it by troubling the home defence. Salmon fired a snap shot wide while a dangerous right wing cross from Skelly was headed clear as the visitors turned the form book upside down. UCD boss Martin Russell was obviously not happy with his charges and made two changes in attack for the second half. It led to a slight improvement in fortunes for the home side but Athlone had the first chance on the resumption of play when a Salmon free kick was put behind by Stephen Roche. The home number eight then had a chance at the opposite end with team mate Kilduff having a low shot saved following a nice incisive pass. Benson then shot over for the resurgent Town but the still dangerous Students had a glorious chance to take the lead on the hour mark. Kilduff raided down the left and his delivery was just too high for substitute John Reilly, who was otherwise facing an open goal, the ball sailed over a stranded Alex O'Reilly. Athlone finally got the score their performance deserved when Stephen Place grabbed his first league goal after 62 minutes. Benson gained possession on the left and his cross to the near post was rifled to the net from the edge of the six yard box by the Athlone number seven. It was no more than the visitors deserved and four minutes later the same players were again in the action, but this time Place's strike was saved by Brennan. With 15 minutes left, Kilduff's shot from Bolger's pass went just past the post while Skelly was also off target for the visitors as full-time approached. With five minutes left, the Town defence lived a charmed life after Brian Cleary's wayward back header was collected by Kilduff, but Hardy was well placed to clear the shot off the line. Athlone's final chance saw Skelly send Salmon's pass over the bar and when Brian Shorthall headed wide from a free kick in the second last minute, it looked like the home challenge had faded. Four additional minutes were indicated to still give the Students hope of salvaging something from a contest in which they were often second best. Athlone cleared a Reilly right wing cross to safety but with a minute left to play UCD grabbed a lifeline. A packed Athlone half saw no way forward for the home side so the Students decided route one football was the way to go. The ball was played back to the halfway line and the long punt forward picked out centre half Evan McMillan whose looping header found the net, despite the best efforts of the Athlone 'keeper to fingertip the ball around his post. Heartache then for the visitors with just about enough time left for the game to restart before the final whistle blew. UCD: Billy Brennan; Brian Shorthall, Ciaran Nagle, Andy Boyle, Evan McMillan, Greg Bolger, Gareth Matthews, Stephen Roche, Ciaran Kilduff, David McMillan, Keith Ward. Subs: John Reilly for D. McMillan (HT), Graham Rusk for Ward (HT), Timmy Purcell for Nagle (73). ATHLONE TOWN: Alex O'Reilly; Niall O'Reilly, Brian Cleary, Luke Hardy, Des Hope, Mark Salmon, Andrei Georgescu, Robbie Benson, Stephen Place, Austin Skelly, Davie O'Connor. Subs: Anthony Hayes for Benson (83 mins), Kieran O'Reilly for Skelly (90). REFEREE: Sean Grant (Wexford).